It's business as usual in Marion

Wednesday

Aug 30, 2006 at 12:01 AM

BY HARRIET DANIELSSTAR-BANNER

OCALA - As Tropical Storm Ernesto hit Florida's southern tip on Tuesday things in Marion County remained relatively normal as many adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward the storm's anticipated northward trek through the state.
Marion County sheriff's Capt. Chip Wildy, the county's emergency management director, said he was staying in contact with other local officials Tuesday to plan preparation efforts. He said as of now the group is not planning to activate the Emergency Management Center or recommend schools or other services be suspended.
"We are not planning to activate the the center, not recommending anything close down and not opening any shelters," he said. "Of course we are monitoring the storm and will adjust accordingly."
He said information received late Tuesday morning predicts sustained winds of 20 mph to 25 mph in east Marion County as the storm moves north accompanied by a substantial amount of rain throughout the region.
Meanwhile, Kevin Christian, spokesman for the Marion County Public Schools, said on Tuesday, "We are making no changes at this point. Everything will be business as usual."
Stores reported an increase in shopping of storm-related supplies.
Items like tape, gas cans, water and tarps accounted for a lot of sales traffic Tuesday, while generators were popular Sunday and Monday said Dante Glasso, manager of The Home Depot store in Ocala.
"Our distribution centers have sent us extra shipments, so we are well stocked with hurricane items," Glasso said.
Such is the case also at Lowe's on State Road 200, where customer traffic was up overall from the weekend and has remained steady. The store's operations manager Chris Ricci said water, flashlights, and batteries topped most lists.
"It's like everyone is watching and waiting to see where the storm goes, but I don't think people are buying much plywood or other stuff for holding down the fort yet," he said.
The evacuation of portions of South Florida and the Florida Keys has local hotel managers on alert, many with reservations from residents seeking shelter as far north as Marion County.
Reservation calls at Microtel Inn at the County Road 484 and Interstate 75 interchange started to pick up late last week. Kenneth Anderson, manager, said the 63-room facility gets updates every hour to check the storm's progression. He said the storm could impact reservations for Saturday's University of Florida football game against Southern Mississippi in Gainesville.
The neighboring Sleep Inn has not had a lot of calls from South Florida residents looking for reservations.
"It's still early yet, so we may get some calls, and we usually do when they evacuate South Florida," said Donna Arthur, manager of Sleep Inn.
Graham Forrest, general manager of Best Western on SR 200, said the hotel has a few evacuees making preliminary reservations.
"If they were coming from Naples and the west coast, we would see more early reservations, but with South Florida they tend to wait longer to see what the storm will do," he said. "This thing has switched around so much no one knows where it's going."
He added the hotel has not had any cancellations from guests coming in for UF's home game.
Judy Baiardi, general manager of Days Inn on West Silver Springs Blvd., is expecting guests from South Florida to begin checking in sometime today. She said local residents from outlying portions of the county also have made reservations just in case.
"We started to see reservations pick up over the weekend coming in by telephone and over the computer," Baiardi said. "Everyone has an eye on the weather."
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Harriet Daniels may be reached at harriet.daniels@starbanner.com or (352) 867-4125.